Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 26 (2002) 661–668

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Study of free convection frost formation on a vertical plate

Marco Fossa *, Giovanni Tanda
Dipartimento di Termoenergetica e Condizionamento Ambientale (DITEC), Universit
a degli Studi di Genova, via all’Opera Pia 15a,
I-16145 Genova, Italy
Accepted 31 October 2001

Abstract

Processes involving heat transfer from a humid air stream to a vertical plate, with simultaneous deposition of frost, are of great
importance in a variety of refrigeration equipment. In this work, frost growth on a vertical plate in free convection has been ex-
perimentally investigated. The plate, cooled by the internal circulation of glycol, was placed in a vertical channel open at the top and
bottom in order to permit the natural circulation of ambient air. The cold plate temperatures were varied in the
13 to
4 °C range,
while the relative humidity and temperature of the ambient air were taken in the 31–58% and 26–28 °C ranges, respectively.
Measured quantities (frost thickness, frost surface temperature, deposited mass of frost, heat flux at the plate/frost interface) were
compared with results given by a simple model based on standard relationships (for heat and mass transfer coefficients, frost density
and thermal conductivity) reported in the literature.
Ó 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Frost formation; Free convection

1. Introduction
Frost formation processes are of great importance in
numerous industrial applications including refrigera-
tion, air-conditioning, cryogenics, and process indus-
tries. In most cases, frost formation is undesirable
because it contributes to the increase in heat transfer
resistance and pressure drop. Frost formation is a
complicated transient phenomenon process in which a
variety of heat and mass transfer mechanisms are si-
multaneously present. Typical frost formation periods
have been described by Hayashi et al. [1]: an initial one-
dimensional (1-D) crystal growth is followed by a frost
layer growth period and, finally, a so-called frost layer
full-growth period characterises long time processes, in
which the frost surface can reach the melting tempera-
ture. Each growth mode is characterised by peculiar
values of frost density which in turn affects the other
frost parameters (thickness, apparent thermal conduc-
tivity). Furthermore, as observed in several studies [2–5],
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +39-10-353-2881/2198; fax: +39-10-
311870.
E-mail address: mfossa@ditec.unige.it (M. Fossa).
0894-1777/02/$ - see front matter Ó 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 8 9 4 - 1 7 7 7 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 1 7 3 - 5
the features of the heat transfer rate (through the wall-
to-air temperature difference) and of the mass transfer
rate (which depends on air moisture content too) affect
the frost structure and control the length of the growth
periods. Owing to the complexity of the phenomenon,
the development of reliable frost formation models as
well as of correlations to evaluate frost properties is
a demanding task; experimental data are required to
check both the assumptions made in the theoretical
analyses and the predicted results.
As clearly reported in some review papers [6–8] frost
formation during the forced convection of humid air has
been extensively studied, while, on the other hand, only
a limited number of investigations deal with mass–heat
transfer during natural convection on a surface at sub-
freezing temperatures. This problem was tackled by
Kennedy and Goodman ([9], study of frost formation on
a vertical surface), Tajima et al. ([10], flat surface with
different orientations), Cremers and Mehra ([3], outer
side of vertical cylinders), Tokura et al. ([4], vertical
surface). To the authors’ knowledge, no data are avail-
able for the natural convection in channels, despite the
practical significance of this phenomenon in such de-
vices as evaporative heat exchangers for cryogenic liquid
gasification.
662 M. Fossa, G. Tanda / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 26 (2002) 661–668
Nomenclature
Dv diffusion coefficient of water vapour in the air
(m2 /s)
k thermal conductivity (W/(m K))
fr radiation factor (–)
g gravitational acceleration (m/s2 )
H cold plate height (m)
h heat transfer coefficient (W/(m2 K))
hD mass transfer coefficient (m/s)
L latent heat of sublimation (J/kg)
M deposited mass of frost per unit area (kg/m2 )
mv mass flux of water vapour (kg/(s m2 ))
Psat saturation pressure of water vapour (Pa)
Rv ideal gas constant of water vapour (J/(kg K))
Sf frost layer thickness (m)
T absolute temperature (K)
x downward vertical co-ordinate (m)
The present paper reports the results of an experi-
mental investigation of frost formation on a vertical
plate inside a rectangular channel where ambient air is
flowing due to natural convection. The experiments
have been conducted in the range of low-intermediate
values of the relative humidity (31–58%) for which frost
temperature, during frost growth, is always below the
triple-point temperature, thus acting as a further pa-
rameter of the study. The measured data have been
compared with the results of a mathematical model
Fig. 1. Schematic layout of the vertical channel and of the cold plate.
Greeks
b coefficient of thermal expansion of air (K
1 )
D difference
/ relative humidity (–)
m kinematic viscosity of air (m2 /s)
q density (kg/m3 )
r (¼ 5:7  10
8 W/(m2 K4 )) Stefan-Boltzmann con-
stant
s time (s)
Subscript
f frost, at frost surface conditions
a air, at ambient air conditions
p at Plexiglas wall conditions
v water vapour
w at wall (cold plate) conditions
developed for predicting frost growth and heat flux at
the cold plate.
2. The experiments
2.1. The apparatus and instrumentation
A schematic view of the experimental apparatus is
shown in Fig. 1. The entire apparatus and the mea-
 M. Fossa, G. Tanda / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 26 (2002) 661–668
surement instrumentation were placed in a large labo-
ratory where relative humidity could be regulated over
the 30–60% range at 27  1 °C. The channel, made of
Plexiglas and rectangular in shape, had a section of
20 mm  360 mm and was 2.4 m long: it was open at the
top and bottom in order to permit the natural circula-
tion of ambient air. The test section, located at 1.3 m
from the channel top section and at 1.0 m from the
bottom section, consisted of the cold plate, 95 mm long
and 282 mm wide, and three Plexiglas walls forming a
channel as deep and as wide as the entrance and exit
channels. The plate was made of copper and cooled by
the internal circulation of a glycol solution coming from
a thermostatic bath. The plate was framed inside a
Plexiglas wall and separated from it by 10 mm-thick
polystyrene strips in order to minimise the thermal
conduction at the plate boundaries and thus prevent
frost (and dew) formation on surfaces different from the
test surface.
The surface temperature of the copper plate was
measured by five pre-calibrated thermocouples, fitted
inside small holes drilled into the wall material posi-
tioned as close as possible to the exposed surface. Two of
them were able to move inside the frost layer driven by
micrometers. The relative humidity of the convective air
flow was measured by capacitance hygrometers, care-
fully calibrated in the 10–95% range, and positioned at
the inlet and outlet of the test section. Numerous fine-
gauge thermocouples were employed to evaluate the
temperature of the air flow at the test section inlet and
outlet. Additional thermocouples were located in the
Plexiglas wall opposite to the cold plate (in order to es-
timate the thermal radiation exchange) and in the ma-
terial surrounding the cold plate (in order to check the
thermal conduction to the plate from the surrounding).
An infrared thermocouple was used for the measurement
of the average frost layer surface temperature, with an
estimated uncertainty of 0.4 °C. The heat flux entering
the cold plate was measured by three pre-calibrated heat
flux sensors flush-mounted on the test surface at different
positions (A, B, C) as shown in Fig. 1.
The thickness of the frost layer was continuously
monitored at the three locations A, B, C corresponding
to the positions of the heat flux sensors. The employed
sensors were mounted on micrometers to allow the
careful checking of their position when they were moved
from the Plexiglas wall facing the cold plate towards the
frost surface.
Two alternative techniques for the frost thickness
measurement were used. The probes were made by
eliminating the junction in a shielded thermocouple in
order to obtain a pair of closely spaced electrodes (at a
distance of about 0.3 mm), working as an impedance
sensor. A DC low voltage, applied to the thermocouple
wires, gave rise to a small current circulation when the
probe tip was brought into contact with the frost layer:
663
this kind of measurement was particularly suitable in
the presence of a rather compact layer of frost. In the
presence of a fragile structure of the frost layer, the
probe tip was covered with a nylon cap (0.8 mm dia-
meter) in order to prevent frost melting. In this case
the contact with the frost surface was observed visually.
The estimated uncertainty of the frost layer thickness
was 0.1 mm, regardless of the type of procedure em-
ployed.
The heat transfer coefficient h at the frost-to-air in-
terface is given by
h ¼
kðoT =onÞf =ðTf
Ta Þ ð1Þ
where k is the thermal conductivity of air evaluated at
the frost surface temperature, ðTf
Ta Þ is the frost sur-
face to ambient air temperature difference and ðoT =onÞf
is the thermal gradient of air, in the direction normal to
the plate, evaluated at the frost/air interface and given
by the schlieren technique, as described by Tanda [11]. A
typical schlieren image is reported in Fig. 2: the thin
dark line in the optical field is the shadow of a strip filter
placed on the focal plane of the schlieren head. Moving
the strip filter on the focal plane of the schlieren head
enables the light angular deflections (i.e. the thermal
gradients of air) to be detected. The heat transfer coef-
ficient h, spanwise averaged along the long side of the
plate, was evaluated, at regular time intervals, at dif-
ferent spots along the vertical co-ordinate x. The un-
certainty (at 95% confidence level) in the h measured
values was in the 8–20% range.
Finally, in order to measure the frost mass deposited
on the test plate, additional runs were performed at re-
duced time intervals; at the end of each test the frost was
scraped off the plate and weighed by a precision balance.
Fig. 2. Typical schlieren image of the test section. The thin dark line
between the cold plate (on the left) and the shrouding adiabatic wall
(right) represents the locus of points at equal thermal gradient. The
three micrometers carrying the probes for the frost thickness mea-
surement are clearly visible on the right side.
664 M. Fossa, G. Tanda / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 26 (2002) 661–668
2.2. The operating procedure
Each experiment was conducted with constant values
of ambient air temperature and relative humidity and for
a given value of the surface temperature of the cold plate.
Namely, the temperature of the ambient air was set at
26–28 °C and with a relative humidity varying over the
31–58% range. The surface temperature of the cold plate
was varied from
13 to
4 °C, with variations in time
and along the surface confined within 0.3 °C.
Before cooling the test plate, the surface had been
covered by a thin polyethylene film so that water vapour
could not condense on the test plate before starting the
test. After the prescribed temperature of the plate was
reached, the test was started by taking off the film. The
standard duration of each test was 7.5 h; the monitored
quantities (air, plate and frost temperatures, heat fluxes
entering the cold plate, frost thickness, local heat transfer
coefficients) were measured at regular time intervals
(typically 45 min) after starting the test. At the end of
the test, additional measurements of frost thickness were
made by using the two shielded, 0.5 mm diameter,
thermocouples travelling through the cold plate and
connected to a micrometer. These were also used to
check the frost temperature given by the infrared ther-
mometer.
3. Analysis
The total heat flux through the frost layer can be
expressed as the sum of contributions by convection,
phase change and radiation
q ¼ hðTa
Tf Þ þ mv L þ fr rðTp4
Tf4 Þ
where h is the convective heat transfer coefficient, mv is
the mass flux of water vapour, L is the latent heat of
sublimation, r is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant, while
Tf , Ta and Tp respectively denote the frost surface, the
(inlet) air and the Plexiglas wall surface (absolute)
temperatures. The radiation factor fr depends on the
emissivity of the frost ef and of the Plexiglas opposite
wall ep and on the geometrical factor between these
surfaces. If the two surfaces are considered diffuse, gray
and forming an enclosure, it follows that fr ¼ ð1=ef þ

1
1=ep
1Þ . When a sufficiently thick layer of frost is
present on the cold surface the value of fr is about 0.8.
The mass flux of water vapour transferring to the
frost surface is related to the mass transfer coefficient hD
by the expression:
mv ¼ hD ðqv;a
qv;f Þ
where qv is the water vapour density and the subscripts a
and f refer to (inlet) air and frost surface conditions,
respectively.
The total heat flux q can be related to the effective
thermal conductivity kf of the frost as follows
q ¼ kf ðTf
Tw Þ=Sf ð4Þ
where Tw is the surface temperature of the cold plate and
Sf is the frost thickness. The combination of Eqs. (2)–(4)
gives rise to the following equation:
kf ðTf
Tw Þ=Sf ¼ hðTa
Tf Þ þ hD ðqv;a
qv;f ÞL
þ fr rðTp4
Tf4 Þ ð5Þ
where the latent heat of sublimation is given by
L ¼ 2:88  106
195Tf ð6Þ
while qv;a and qv;f are respectively expressed by
qv;a ¼ /Psat;a =ðRv Ta Þ ð7Þ
qv;f ¼ Psat;f =ðRv Tf Þ ð8Þ
In the above relationships, Psat is the saturation pressure
of water vapour, Rv is the ideal gas constant of water
vapour, / is the relative humidity of (inlet) air, while the
subscripts a and f denote air and frost surface condi-
tions, respectively.
Finally, the deposited mass of frost DM (per unit
surface area) in a given time interval Ds is given by
 Z H 
DM ¼ ð1=H Þ mv dx Ds ð9Þ
0
where x is the downward vertical co-ordinate and H the
cold surface height.
Eqs. (4), (5) and (9) can be used to theoretically de-
termine the frost thickness, the frost surface temperature
and the heat flux at the cold plate during frost growth,
for given values of air temperature and relative humidity
and of the cold plate temperature. For this purpose, the
ð2Þ following relationships for the heat/mass transfer coef-
ficients and frost properties (in SI units) have been
considered:
0:25
h ¼ 0:355ðk=xÞ½bgðTa
Tf Þx3 =m2 ð10Þ
hD ¼ hDv =k ð11Þ
kf ¼ 0:001202q0:963
f ð12Þ
qf ¼ 650 exp½0:227ðTf
273:15Þ ð13Þ
where k, b, and m are the thermal conductivity, the
coefficient of thermal expansion, and the kinematic
viscosity of air respectively, g is the gravitational accel-
eration, and Dv is the diffusion coefficient of the water
vapour in the air.
Eq. (10) derives from the theoretical results obtained
by Ostrach [12] for heat transfer from a vertical isother-
ð3Þ mal plate exposed to a free-convective air flow. The above
relationship was found to apply with good accuracy to
the cold plate even though it was placed inside the vertical
channel, as it will be discussed later. Eq. (11) represents
the Lewis analogy for heat/mass transfer phenomena
 M. Fossa, G. Tanda / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 26 (2002) 661–668
with the Lewis number taken equal to unity, while Eqs.
(12) and (13) are empirical correlations taken from
Sanders [13] and Hayashi et al. [14], respectively. The
range of validity of Eq. (12) includes wall temperatures
down to
22 °C and densities up to 500 kg/m3 . Eq. (13)
applies to wall temperatures in the
25 to 0 °C range.
Thickness Sf and frost surface temperature Tf can be
easily evaluated according to the following procedure:
(i) Tf is taken equal to Tw at the initial time s ¼ 0;
(ii) a given time interval Ds is chosen;
(iii) Eq. (3) and (7)–(13) are used to determine mv , h,
hD , qf , kf , and DM;
(iv) the thickness Sf of frost deposited during the initial
Ds time interval is evaluated as follows:
Sf ¼ DM=qf
(v) frost temperature Tf is updated by iteratively solv-
ing Eq. (5);
(vi) h, hD , qf , kf , and DM are updated (the average den-
sity of frost accumulated on the plate is used in Eq.
(12) to determine the apparent thermal conductiv-
ity of frost kf );
(vii) thickness Sf at the updated time is given by:
Sf ¼ Sf
þ DM=qf ð15Þ
where Sf
is the frost thickness at the previous time
instant.
Fig. 3. Average thickness of the frost layer versus time. (Symbols) Experiments, (lines) predictions. Relative humidity: (a) 31%, (b) 35%, (c) 52%,
(d) 58%.
665
4. Results and discussion
As previously described, the input parameters of the
study were the ambient air temperature and relative
humidity, and the surface temperature of the cold plate.
The natural convective airflow was driven inside the
channel by the air-to-frost surface temperature differ-
ence. Owing to the long development section of the
channel, the airflow at the test section inlet was expected
to be fully developed and within the laminar regime
(typically the Reynolds number based on the hydraulic
diameter of the channel ranged from 250 to 500).
Fig. 3 shows the mean frost thickness on the cold
plate (estimated as the average of the three independent
measurements performed at the three different spots A,
ð14Þ B, C) as a function of time, at four different values of the
relative humidity (31%, 35%, 51% and 58%) and three
values of the cold plate temperature (
13,
8,
4 °C).
Different symbols refer to the experimental results, while
lines refer to the predictions obtained by the theoretical
model. Generally speaking, largest values of the frost
thickness are achieved at the highest relative humidities
and largest air-to-plate temperature differences. Results
from the theoretical model tend to underestimate frost
thickness, especially at the highest cold plate tempera-
ture (
4 °C). The agreement between predictions and
measurements improves during the later time period at
the highest relative humidities. Indeed, during the early
666 M. Fossa, G. Tanda / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 26 (2002) 661–668
time period, the growth of the frost layer is not uniform
and is accompanied by density anomalies (especially at
low humidities) that cannot be described by the simple
relationships adopted in the mathematical model.
In Fig. 4 frost thickness is reported against the frost
growth parameter introduced by Schneider [15]. Mea-
sured and predicted data are in good agreement with the
following relationship:
0:40
Sf ¼ 0:20½sðTf
Tw Þ ð16Þ
where Sf is expressed in mm and s in min. Eq. (16) was
obtained by Cremers and Mehra [3] for frost formation
on vertical cylinders in free convection with air relative
humidities higher than 65% and frost growth parameter
higher than 1000.
Fig. 5 shows the measured values of the mean frost
surface temperature versus time, for two different values
of the relative humidity (31% and 58%) and three values
of the cold plate temperature (
13,
8, and
4 °C). It is
apparent from the figure that, when the humidity is
Fig. 4. Average frost thickness versus the frost growth parameter
defined by Schneider [15]. (Symbols) Experiments, (line) correlation
by Cremers–Mehra [3].
Fig. 5. Surface temperature of frost versus time at different values of
the relative humidity and cold plate temperature.
relatively high, the frost surface temperature approaches
a value close to the triple-point value in a rather short
time (about 2 h). Conversely, for the lower value of
the relative humidity, the surface temperature and the
thickness of the frost increase very slowly with time;
moreover, visual observation revealed irregular frost
growth over the cooled plate (as typically occurs in the
‘‘1-D growth period’’). As appears from Fig. 6, the de-
viation of the predicted surface temperature from ex-
perimental data is within 2 K when the relative humidity
is 58% but it becomes very large (3–5 K) at the lower
humidity value (31%) especially during the first part of
the transient, which is the most critical to be described
by the model developed.
The local heat transfer coefficient (in dimensionless
form), measured by means of the schlieren technique, is
reported in Fig. 7 against the local Grashof number.
Experimental results, obtained at different vertical spots
with and without frost, are denoted by symbols. They
are in satisfactory agreement with the theoretical results
obtained by Ostrach [12] for a vertical isothermal plate
Fig. 6. Comparison between measured and predicted values of the frost
surface temperature. (Symbols) Experiments, (lines) predictions.
Fig. 7. Local Nusselt number versus Grashof number. (Symbols) Ex-
perimental values, (line) correlation by Ostrach [12] for a vertical,
unbounded, isothermal plate.
 M. Fossa, G. Tanda / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 26 (2002) 661–668
with air as the convective fluid. It is inferred that the
presence of the wall facing the cold plate and of the long
development and exit sections does not significantly af-
fect the heat transfer behaviour of the vertical plate, for
the range of air-to-wall temperature differences and for
the values of the geometric parameters (channel height
and depth, cold plate height) considered.
The measured and predicted mass of frost (per unit of
surface area) deposited onto the cold surface is plotted
in Fig. 8 for different values of Tw and /. Inspection of
the figure reveals that the total mass of frost deposited
increases linearly with time and is mainly affected by the
relative humidity rather than by the cold plate temper-
ature. These circumstances were qualitatively confirmed
by theoretical results, even though their values fell well
below (from 20% to 50%) the experimental data.
Attention is now focused on the heat flux at the cold
plate/frost interface. Data reported in Figs. 9 and 10
refer to measurements and predictions at the plate
midheight (corresponding to the heat flux sensor at lo-
cation B). In general, the local heat flux to the cold plate
Fig. 8. Mass of frost deposited (per unit surface area) versus time:
measured and predicted data for different values of the relative
humidity and cold plate temperature.
Fig. 9. Heat flux transferred to the cold plate at midheight versus time.
Relative humidity: 31%. (Symbols) Experiments, (lines) predictions.
667
Fig. 10. Heat flux transferred to the cold plate at midheight versus
time. Relative humidity: 58%. (Symbols) Experiments, (lines) predic-
tions.
during the frost formation is markedly reduced for Tw ¼

13 °C; conversely, only slight heat transfer reductions
(or even heat transfer enhancements) were observed for
Tw ¼
4 °C. Indeed, at the highest plate temperature,
the frost layer is very thin (causing a slight additional
thermal resistance) and not regular in surface (thus in-
creasing the effective heat transfer area on the air side).
The total heat flux was found to be higher at the higher
relative humidity (and same cold plate temperature),
owing to the increased rate of latent heat transfer, driven
by the higher air-to-frost vapour concentration differ-
ence. Predictions usually give lower total heat flux values
than experiments, with largest differences ranging from
10% to 15%, at the start of frost formation, to 20%
during frost growth. The disagreement at the start of the
transient is within the experimental uncertainty in the
measurements of the heat transfer coefficients on which
the theoretical model is based. When frost grows, the
real heat/mass transfer surface area increases due to the
roughness of the frost surface: therefore, the assumption
of a flat frost/air interface could lead to severe under-
estimation of the predicted heat flux and mass of frost at
the cold plate since it does not take into account the
increases in the ‘‘apparent’’ heat and mass transfer co-
efficients during frost growth, as found by Kennedy and
Goodman [9].
5. Conclusions
The heat and mass transfer during the formation of a
frost layer on a cold surface was experimentally inves-
tigated. The surface was placed inside a long verti-
cal channel open at the top and bottom to permit the
natural convection laminar flow of air at controlled
temperature and relative humidity. Experiments were
conducted by varying the temperature of the cold plate
between
13 and
4 °C and the relative humidity of
ambient air from 31% to 58%. The temperature of the
ambient air was maintained at 26–28 °C.
668 M. Fossa, G. Tanda / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 26 (2002) 661–668
The frost layer thickness was found to vary with a
parameter given by the product between the time and
the frost surface to air temperature difference, in
agreement with previous literature works. Largest values
of frost thickness were generally found at the highest
relative humidities. For the highest values of the relative
humidity, the frost surface temperature reached a value
close to the triple-point value in a rather short time
(about 2 h). Conversely, at the lowest humidities, the
surface temperature of the frost increased very slowly
with time. The deposited mass of frost was found to
linearly increase with time; the slope was markedly af-
fected by the relative humidity of ambient air and only
marginally affected by the temperature of the cold plate.
The local heat flux to the cooled plate during the frost
formation, measured at the plate midheight, was markedly
reduced for Tw ¼
13 °C, whereas only slight heat
transfer reductions were observed for Tw ¼
4 °C.
A simple model to predict frost growth key parame-
ters (frost thickness, heat/mass transfer rates) was de-
veloped. The calculated frost thickness versus time was
generally in satisfactory agreement with measured data;
the total heat flux and deposited frost mass were un-
derestimated (by 5–20% and by 20–50%, respectively)
owing to some simplifying assumptions made in the
model (frost/air interface assumed to be flat, use of
simple relationships for frost properties).
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